


little black dress and practical heels

by foxmagpie



Series: little black dress and practical heels [1]
Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: AU, F/M, Pretend to be my date
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-06-12 21:41:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19584256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foxmagpie/pseuds/foxmagpie
Summary: “Expensive car,” Dean concedes, rubbing his tongue along his teeth. “Lots of good stuff about the CTS, but you know, it ranks lower on reliability than its rivals. Expensive to fix.”“Yeah,” Rio nods before he downs the rest of his drink. “I can afford it, though.” Rio sets his glass down on the counter and then moves his hand to rest it on Beth’s knee. His hand is warm and he gives her a slight squeeze, which makes her stomach clench.Beth can’t help but smile. Dean stiffens, taking in Rio’s hand placement, and then he eyes Rio’s neck tattoo.“What is it that you do?”---AU. Post-divorce Beth meets up with Annie at a bar, but Annie's late. While she's waiting, she runs into Dean and Amber. Rio pretends to be her date.





	little black dress and practical heels

The bar Annie picked for Beth’s first post-divorce single woman out on the town night is _way_ too hip for her. The music is loud (not to mention the fact that Beth doesn’t even recognize any of the songs) and the drinks are overpriced. The crowd looks a little young, too, and Beth is cursing Annie for being late. _Really_ late. 

Beth’s already had two drinks and suffered one conversation with a man who had flirted with her just to brag about himself. The third time he mentioned his BitCoin accounts, Beth just interrupted him to plaster on a fake smile and say, “Oh, no thank you. But I appreciate your interest.” His mouth had fallen open and puckered like a little fish, and Beth had turned and walked away from him before he could think of a reply.

Beth makes her way back to the bar to get another refill on her bourbon, digging her phone out of her purse on the way so that she can call Annie and berate her.

The bar is crowded, and Beth just manages to find one empty barstool between a man with close-cropped hair and a woman in a very small, very tight black dress. Beth feels very out-of-place. 

“Bourbon on the rocks,” Beth says, lifting her empty glass towards the bartender when she comes over. She refills it and Beth dials Annie.

“I am _so sorry_ ,” Annie answers breathlessly. “I am going to be there _so_ soon—it’s just—”

“Oh my god, Annie,” Beth says. “You’re a half hour late. You chose this place, and I _so_ do not fit in here.”

“Relax,” Annie says. “The whole point of being divorced is to experience new things—or new people—that you haven’t before. You’re not looking for love, you’re looking for an orgasm.”

“I am _not_ ,” Beth hisses under her breath, “looking for an orgasm.”

This comment draws the attention of the man on her left. He glances at her and smiles, amused, while twiddling his fingers on the glass of his vodka neat.

Beth turns her body away from him for some privacy. “Annie. Seriously. Where are you?”

“Okay, _please_ don’t get mad,” Annie begins.

“You’re not off to a great start!” 

“Remember Josh?”

“Josh? Is he the guy you slept with from the laundromat or from the ice cream shop?” Beth hears a laugh come from the guy on her left. She shoots a glare at him over her shoulder.

“Yeah! The guy from the laundromat.”

“Ugh.”

“What?”

“Laundromat is worse than ice cream shop, somehow.”

Annie sighs dramatically. “ _Anyway_ , I ran into him again... at the laundromat,” Annie says. “And… he’s coming with now.”

“Oh my god,” Beth seethes. “You’re the worst wingman ever.”

“Wingwoman, okay? And look, it’s going to be a lot of fun, I promise.”

“I’m thirdwheeling my own single woman out on the town night!” Beth says, and she’s instantly embarrassed about referring to it like that out loud. Beth turns her body even more, trying to ensure that her neighbor can no longer eavesdrop, and that’s when she sees him. “Oh my god, Annie. You need to get here right now.”

“Why’s your voice all weird?”

“ _Dean’s here!_ And he’s with Amber. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.”

“Just leave,” Annie says.

“He’s just like… hanging out near the entrance,” Beth says. “He’ll see me.”

“Fuck. Well, I’m not going to be there for—”

“Shit,” Beth mutters. “He’s seen me.”

Dean’s face lights up and he waves with big, embarrassing gestures across the bar. Of _course_ he looks happy—he’s out with his much younger, much hotter new girlfriend, and Beth is here _alone_ drinking bourbon like some sad, jilted ex-wife. Which she is.

Dean starts beelining towards her and Beth puts her head in her hands. “Annie, he’s coming over.”

“Just, you know, pretend you’re with someone there,” Annie says. 

“I’m not going to pretend I’m here with someone,” Beth insists. “He’ll find out in like three seconds that it’s a lie.”

“No, he won't. Dean's an idiot. Say he’s in the bathroom—”

“I gotta go.” Beth clicks the end button and spins around to give Dean an icy smile.

“Bethie,” he says, drawing out her name and going in for a hug that Beth doesn’t quite return. “Fancy seeing you here—or anywhere, really. Out on the town on a Friday night? Seems unusual.”

The man on Beth’s left swivels to get a look at Dean. Out of the corner of her eye, Beth sees him look Dean up and down, measuring him, taking in his slacks and tucked-in shirt, the young blonde on his arm in the slinky silver dress.

“Yeah, well,” Beth falters to come up with a response. 

“Taking a night off from cross-stitching?” Amber says, like it’s a joke between friends and not a very embarrassing dig at Beth’s old lady hobbies.

“You here with someone?” Dean asks, scanning the room for someone that could reasonably be with Beth. He doesn’t wait for Beth to respond, though. “Who has the kids?”

“They’re sleeping over at Ruby’s,” Beth says miserably. 

“Wow. Sleepover, huh? You thinking you’ll need the sitter the whole night?” Dean teases, laughing at her, like it’s absurd to think she won’t be crawling into her bed at 10:30. The worst part is that he’s _right—_ if she had her way, she’d already be in her van and on her way home.

“Yeah,” the man on Beth’s left says. “Actually, we _were_ thinking that.” 

Beth whips her head to look over at this guy. He reaches his arm around her and squeezes her arm gently, like, _Go with it_. Beth takes him in. The first thing she notices is a giant neck tattoo of some kind of bird. She cringes. He’s not exactly the type of guy she wants to show off in front of Dean, as kind as his gesture is intended to be. But the second thing she notices is that he’s actually quite handsome: he’s got sharp cheekbones, a strong jaw, and heavily-lidded dark brown eyes. 

Dean can’t hide his shock, and Amber yawns, bored of this whole charade already.

“Who is this?” Dean asks, sticking out his hand.

“Rio,” the man says, and while he clocks Dean’s outstretched hand, he very purposefully and pointedly ignores it. 

“Rio, Rio, Rio,” Dean repeats, bouncing on the balls of his feet, taking his hand back to crack his knuckles. “Interesting, interesting. So, how’d you two meet? PTA? Book club? No, wait, let me guess—yoga.”

“Nah,” Rio says, and Beth’s relieved he’s taking the lead on this, because she feels like all the oxygen has been sucked out of the room and she’s totally braindead. 

“Park?” Amber suggests, goading.

“Dancing,” Rio lies. “There’s this great little salsa spot down on 5th? As soon as I saw her in that little black dress and them practical heels, I had to introduce myself.” Rio smirks over his glass as he takes a drink. 

“Beth doesn’t dance,” Dean says, eyebrows furrowed as he shakes his head, like he knows every possible thing about her. “And I’ve never seen her in a little black dress.”

“Practical heels seems right, though,” Amber shrugs, smacking her gum. She eyes Beth's jeans and floral blouse combo. 

“She’s tryin’ lots of new things now,” Rio says, letting this statement hang in the air suggestively. Dean balks.

“So I guess you’ll have to show off your, uh, _salsa_ moves at Lisa’s wedding, huh?” Dean asks, turning back to Beth. “Lisa told me you marked plus one, so I assume…” He gives her a cruel smile, testing her. Beth can tell he at least suspects Rio isn’t really her date, but he’s still a little uncertain, especially with the way Rio is staring him down.

Beth closes her eyes for a beat longer than a blink. Yes, she had marked plus-one because she _knew_ she couldn’t show up alone when Dean would show up with Amber, but she’d been hoping that between now and then, she’d maybe find someone—yes, at a place like a PTA meeting or yoga—and invite _them_. Now if she says she’s bringing _this guy_ , she’ll have to make up a whole reason why he couldn’t make it; she’ll have to pretend her first post-divorce relationship fell apart in under a month.

“Yeah, we were plannin’ on goin’,” Rio says, turning to Beth to ask, “Is that the weddin’ in Marshall? Or the other one?”

“The other one,” Beth says, swallowing. “Lisa’s is in Lexington.”

“Who’s getting married in Marshall?” Dean asks, suspicious.

“Rose,” Beth says. Rose doesn’t exist, but Dean was never very good about keeping track of Beth’s social circle. “She’s in book club? She went through that nasty divorce two years ago and now she's getting married again next weekend and..."

But Dean’s already stopped listening to Beth. “So, Rio, what do you drive? I’m a car guy myself, so…”

Rio clicks his teeth, deciding whether or not to play into Dean’s game. Beth wishes he wouldn’t—whatever he says, Dean’s going to come back with some comment, she knows he will. 

“Cadillac,” Rio says. “CTS. How ‘bout you?”

Beth has no idea what a Cadillac CTS is, but it must impress Dean on some level because he doesn’t share what he drives (something he usually _loves_ to do), and it takes him a moment to regroup. Amber also eyes Rio with new interest after he shares this tidbit.

“Base model?” Dean asks instead.

“Nah,” Rio replies, and he lets Dean squirm for an extra moment before he clarifies. “I went for the V-Sport. Premium Luxury.”

“Expensive car,” Dean concedes, rubbing his tongue along his teeth. “Lots of good stuff about the CTS, but you know, it ranks lower on reliability than its rivals. Expensive to fix.”

“Yeah,” Rio nods before he downs the rest of his drink. “I can afford it, though.” Dean blanches, and Rio sets his glass down on the counter and then moves his hand to rest it on Beth’s knee. His hand is warm and he gives her a slight squeeze, which makes her stomach clench.

Beth can’t help but smile. Dean stiffens, taking in Rio’s hand placement, and then he eyes Rio’s neck tattoo.

“What is it that you do?” Dean asks, squinting. “No offense, I’m just trying to figure out what kind of job pays so well and hires someone that looks like he’s sporting prisons tats.” He laughs, as if it’s a joke, but Beth feels Rio straighten beside her. 

Just then, Beth sees Annie walk in with a tall, lanky man and start to scour the bar for her. Dean is taking a closer inventory of Rio, studying the ring on his pinky finger, the rope bracelets on his wrists, his expensive watch. Beth takes a chance and types out a short message to Annie: _NAMED RIO_. She hopes Dean didn't see her. 

Beth watches as Annie takes her phone out of her pocket and read the message. She furrows her brows, looks at Beth, and mouths, “What?”

Beth gestures towards Rio with her head, and Annie still looks confused, but she starts walking over, fighting through the crowd.

Slipping her phone back into her pocket, Beth returns her attention to the conversation at hand, but nobody’s talking anymore. Beth has missed something.

“It was a joke, man, relax,” Rio says. 

Amber gives a fake laugh and then grabs onto Dean’s arm. “I’m bored. I want to dance.”

“Just hold on,” Dean snaps at her. 

Annie bumps into Amber a little too hard, gives an exaggerated apology, and then spots Rio’s hand on Beth’s knee. “Hey, y’all!” she shouts, and then she goes to hug Rio. Rio takes his hand off Beth’s knee to return the gesture.

“Nice seeing you _again_ , Rio,” she says, just for Dean’s benefit.

“Annie,” Rio acknowledges.

Dean looks quickly back and forth between Annie and Rio. Whatever doubts he had been carrying about Beth and Rio’s performance are now being challenged.

Rio holds out his hand to Josh. “Josh, right? From the laundromat?” Josh at least has the decency to blush, but Rio pats him on the back, laughing good-naturedly. “Annie has a bit of a mouth, man, sorry.”

Beth can’t believe how well this guy had been paying attention and piecing things together. She’s a little offended—she _was_ having a private conversation—but the look on Dean’s face is worth it. 

Rio turns back to Dean. “It was nice to meet you, man.” As a last dig, Rio turns to Amber, holding out his hand. “He forgot to introduce you, though. What’s your name?”

Amber’s face twists, realizing that Rio’s right. “Amber.”

“Pleasure,” Rio says, and he presses his lips to Amber’s fingers briefly. Amber flushes, and Dean immediately pulls her away to stalk off into the crowd. 

Annie’s face is alight with the glow of watching Dean be bested. “Wow,” she says. “We owe you a drink—or seven.”

“I wouldn’t say no to a vodka neat.” Annie pushes her way to the bar, inserting herself between Rio and a stranger on the opposite seat, and waits for the bartender to notice her and take her order. Josh hovers behind her like a lost puppy.

Rio swivels his chair back around so that he’s facing the bar again, but he turns his face toward Beth. He looks at her, _really_ looks at her, and she flushes. His eyes search hers for a moment and then he says, “Hope that wasn’t a problem.”

“No, no,” Beth says quickly. “That was amazing, actually. Thank you.”

“How long since the divorce?” Rio asks, lacing his fingers together. 

“We’ve been in and out of court for about a year. But it was finalized on Tuesday.”

Rio nods. “And how long he been with Amber?”

“Two years,” Beth admits quietly. Somehow it’s always seemed shameful to her, Dean’s cheating, as if she’s responsible for it somehow, as if he must have done it because of how Beth wasn’t measuring up. 

Rio’s offsets his jaw, as if Dean’s betrayal of Beth has offended him somehow. “Well, on the bright side, you can expect that to fizzle out any day now.”

“And why do you say that?”

“Well, she’s won, right? But the fight just ended, and now it’s only gonna take a minute for it the dust to settle and for her to realize that what she’s won? It aint no prize.”

Beth laughs and raises her bourbon to clink it with Rio’s empty glass. Rio holds eye contact with her while she does it, and Beth wants to look away—his gaze is so intense—but she can’t. 

Annie returns with the drinks and she asks for a play-by-play of the showdown with Dean, which Beth is happy to provide. Rio grins and every once in a while he supplies the details that Beth forgets. After they finish their drinks, Beth knows she better let Rio get back to his night. He’s done her a wonderful favor, but he probably had his own agenda here tonight.

“Thanks so much for your help again,” she says. “But I understand if you want to get back to your night—”

Rio leans in close to Beth’s ear, and he runs his hand up from Beth’s knee to her upper thigh. She feels heat pool in her center—it has been _years_ since anyone has touched her like this. Annie’s eyebrows shoot up in her hair and she whistles.

“Your dumbass ex can’t keep his eyes off you,” Rio whispers. Beth glances out of the corner of her eye, looking for Dean. She’s breathing heavily. Rio is _so close_ to her. “Now I say we have some fun. If he wants a show, let’s give him one, yeah?”

Rio pulls back just enough to look at Beth’s face, and she gives him the slightest nod, her cheeks burning. 

“Aight then,” Rio says, and he smiles at her just before he pulls her face to his and kisses her—deeply.

Beth’s brain goes fuzzy with the kiss. Rio’s lips are soft and his scruff is itchy, and she can feel his hands—one on her neck, the other pressed against her hip now—and then she feels his tongue lick at her bottom lip, and she _melts_. She sinks into the kiss, forgetting about Dean, forgetting about everything, only distantly aware of Annie whooping and hollering in the background. 

Rio breaks the kiss and takes his hand to push Beth’s bangs to the side of her face. 

_Oh shit,_ she thinks. _How do I get him to do that_ again _?_  
  



End file.
